Chapter 188 Tentacle Lair

Perhaps Hao Ren’s understanding of this world was still limited, especially his understanding of this group of religious believers. It seemed that the Bearded Man's casual method of finding the way didn't seem to be a problem to others. After determining the direction, he didn't even look at the old werewolf, just nodded and followed the team forward.

This underground world was enormous. The large cave behind them was only a small part of it. Hao Ren had the data terminal scan the nearby terrain and discovered that there were several underground cavities in the distance that were almost as large as the cave behind them, and these cavities were connected by a complex network of tunnels. Without the Bearded Man to guide them, ordinary people would probably be trapped and die here. After seeing the radar feedback in his mind, Hao Ren felt an unspeakable awe for this underground cave system. He couldn't imagine how the founder of the Radiant Church three thousand years ago found the Progenitor of Life and the Goddess's Legacy in this sacred cave—without some kind of guidance, it was hard to believe that someone could explore this underground world by luck.

The cave ahead was long and winding, and the road was rugged and difficult to walk. The irregular stone walls were sporadically covered with that strange luminous substance, illuminating the way ahead while also making the atmosphere extremely eerie. Fortunately, the size of the cave was still quite open, and walking inside didn't make people feel depressed, otherwise being in this environment for a long time would really affect one's mood.

Lili walked beside Hao Ren, collecting some beautiful underground stones from the nearby road and stuffing them into Hao Ren's hands. She asked Hao Ren to put these in his personal space and take them back to enrich her treasure hoard. At the same time, she also occasionally scraped off some luminous powder from the stone walls next to her, rubbing her hands and studying it: "It looks like luminous fungi, not minerals..."

"Be careful of fungal infections." Hao Ren kept a little distance from these powders. He didn't actually understand mycology, but he felt goosebumps all over when he heard that it was a living thing.

"These fungi should be harmless," Vivian said reassuringly. She differentiated a small bat, which nibbled on some of the powder on the stone wall before making this judgment. This testing method really tested one's creativity. At the same time, she also released many small bats to check the situation at the forks they passed along the way, and seemed to have discovered something. "There should be some cracks that lead to the ground. The air below is slightly flowing, and in some places, water is seeping down from above."

"There are fewer and fewer young mercenaries like you these days," the old werewolf, Erson, who hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly interjected, "The mercenaries of the past were no different from adventurers. They didn't have many rules or organizations. Many people roamed around with nothing but their courage, taking risks in ruins and dungeons. Either they returned fully loaded, or they died inside. The people back then were barbaric, but they pursued that kind of excitement. Now... heh, they've created a lot of rules out of thin air, and set up many decent-looking organizations. They've even started taking on errand tasks. How can that be called mercenary work? It's rare to see young people like you who are so curious and daring."

It seemed that this scene of exploring the dungeon reminded the old werewolf of some of his experiences when he was young. Erson started talking a lot on his own, comparing the hot-blooded adventurers and mercenaries who used to roam around with the "mercenaries" who now earned a comfortable income by running errands. Lili couldn't help but be curious when she heard his words: "Old man, were you a mercenary back then?"

Erson grinned, revealing his sharp werewolf fangs: "That was hundreds of years ago. At that time, Ofra and I were making a living near the grasslands. Back then, there was no distinction between mercenaries and adventurers for people like us. When we went to train ourselves, we were adventurers. If someone paid us to hire us, then we were mercenaries. The two of us went into this kind of cave a lot back then—looking at you now, I'm reminded of myself back then. When you get old, you talk too much, don't mind it."

It was only then that Hao Ren was suddenly stunned. He knew about the story of Marshal Ofra as a wandering mercenary hundreds of years ago, and he also knew the legend of how Gadon III, the prince of Holletta at the time, recruited Ofra into his command in a border town—these ancient stories were passed down from mercenary to mercenary like legends. Becky knew them like the back of her hand, but he didn't expect that this old werewolf who looked like nothing more than Ofra's follower was actually a witness to those days!

If that was the case, then the werewolf Erson, who was Ofra's former teammate, should also be a famous legendary hero. At least he had also been loyal to this kingdom for hundreds of years, but Hao Ren didn't remember hearing any legends about this person.

"Hehe, I don't like showing my face," Erson seemed to see Hao Ren's surprised look, "And I'm not as powerful as Ofra. She's a descendant of the ancients, and she relied entirely on her own skills to make a name for herself in the world. I just happened to know her back then, and I've lived a relatively long life. Besides, you're from the north, so it's normal that you haven't heard of me."

"I've heard of you!" Becky suddenly reacted at this time, and immediately became excited, "So you're the Azure Wolf General! The number one warrior beside Lord Ofra! But... but I didn't expect you to be like this... I thought..."

"Thought what? Thought the Azure Wolf General should be an old military man wearing a suit of armor, patrolling the troops all day long with a straight face?" The old werewolf laughed, seemingly finding the mercenary girl's exaggerated behavior interesting. "I'm usually like this. When I joined forces with Ofra hundreds of years ago, I told that kid Gadon that I couldn't stand their rules."

Becky immediately said oh, thinking to herself that no wonder the old werewolf in front of her was dressed so plainly, looking like a stableman in the army. So this was the demeanor of a master...

Erson took this opportunity to chat with Becky and Hao Ren for a few words, mainly asking about the situation of this "a good name wasted on a dog" mercenary group. His reason was sufficient: as an old mercenary who had been retired for many years, he couldn't help but feel a little itchy when he saw younger colleagues, so there were many things he wanted to ask.

After the team passed a fork in the road, and Erson and Becky had temporarily finished talking, Hao Ren quietly pulled Becky aside and whispered to her: "Is this Erson very famous? I have no idea!"

"Kingdom's Fierce General, Azure Wolf General," Becky's face was filled with excitement, obviously anything related to Ofra could excite her, including the old werewolf beside Ofra, "He's the number one warrior beside Lord Ofra. He's usually very low-key, and doesn't live in the general's mansion, but always lives in the barracks. Some people say he's very mysterious, because he almost never appears at any formal occasions, only occasionally appearing beside Lord Ofra as a follower. By the way, his full name is Erson Aiben, you'd better remember it, to prevent people from seeing you as ignorant outside."

"Oh..." Hao Ren nodded, and after a moment suddenly reacted, "Wait?! Aiben?!"

His voice was a bit loud, and the old werewolf Erson, who was walking in front, looked back at him with a smile: "What's wrong? Is my family name strange?"

Hao Ren suppressed the surprise in his heart, thinking that this should just be a coincidence: "Oh oh, it's nothing, it should be a coincidence, I also know a few Aiben werewolves."

Erson stopped when he heard this: "Other Aiben werewolves? I am the last member of the Aiben clan in this world! Where did you meet other werewolves named Aiben?"

Hao Ren was greatly surprised: "Wait... You're saying this world... there's only one werewolf named Aiben here? There are no other Aiben werewolves in the world?"

"Werewolf families strictly follow the rules of blood clans, even if they marry each other, they will ensure that the clan name is 100% correct, and there will be no werewolf who uses the clan name rashly, and the patriarchs of the major werewolf families all know the situation of other clan names, this is the foundation of our society," Erson Aiben's eyes sharpened a little, "I can be sure that there will not be a second werewolf named Aiben in this world—our family names are unique, and I am the last member of the Aiben werewolves!"

Hao Ren suddenly didn't know how to explain it. Fortunately, Vivian was quick-witted and quickly came up with a reason: "Oh, he remembered wrong, it's not named Aiben, but the name has the word Aiben in it..."

Erson Aiben then said oh, seemingly no longer suspicious.

Becky looked at this situation with a puzzled expression, and couldn't help but whisper beside Hao Ren: "Wait, wait, what's going on with the word 'Aiben'?"

Becky was ignorant about the situation on Earth and had not encountered the Aiben werewolves on Earth.

Hao Ren chuckled and spread his hands: "I've helped someone find a cross-world relative!"

Since werewolf family names were unique, then the Aiben family on Earth and this old werewolf were 100% relatives!

However, this matter couldn't be put on Hao Ren's work schedule for the time being. He just regarded it as an unexpected episode, silently noted it in his heart, and then continued to focus on traveling.

The group finally reached the end of this long cave. Ahead was a large open cave, but Lili, who was running in front, just poked her head out to take a look and let out a earth-shattering scream: "Awooo—Mommy, it's a tentacle nest!"